Chua is the eldest in a family of 12 children from her father’s two wives and spent her early years surrounded by luxury–servants, nice cars and a tennis court behind the family’s stately bungalow on Tanglin Road, home to many of Singapore’s wealthy. But at the age of 10 her father’s nutmeg and clove business failed, and the family lost everything, forcing Chua to become financially savvy at a very young age. Tutoring and typing work in her teens provided her first window into the world of business. She was accepted to the University of Singapore on a scholarship but dropped out after a year to work as a teacher to support her family. Chua cautions that perhaps too much has been made of her lean years. “It wasn’t unusual for my generation to start young to earn money to keep food on the table,” she says.